Play set for making space craft figurettes



March 31, 1964 D. RABINOW 3,126,667

PLAY SET FOR MAKING SPACE CRAFT FIGURETTES Filed Sept. 14, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. @amui flaw/non,

BY l

A TTOR/VEY March 31, 1964 D. RABINOW 3,125,567

PLAY SET FOR MAKING SPACE CRAFT FIGURETTES Filed Sept. 14, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

@amid. fiaH/rww BY 2 March 31, 1964 D. RABINOW 3,126,667

PLAY SET FOR MAKING SPACE CRAFT FIGURETTES Filed Sept. 14, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 31, 1964 D. RABINOW 3,126,667

PLAY SET FOR MAKING SPACE CRAFT FIGURETTES Filed Sept. 14, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. v @wowl Ra a/new ATTORNEY United States Patent i Fiied Sept. 14, 1959, Ser. No. 839,710 3 Claims. (Cl. 46-17) This invention relates to a toy set of play parts adapted for knockdown press fit assemblage in different relationships to make quiescent figurettes that simulate the identifying shape characteristics of aircraft, rockets with their satellites, missiles and various other space vehicles.

The present improvements avail of the fact that the body and wing components of jet planes, rockets, ballistic missiles and other space age vehicles posses in common certain characteristics of shape and proportion so that a relatively small number of play parts are capable of interchangeable assemblage and reassemblage in ways to produce shape replicas of a very large variety of different space craft.

The complexity of operative aircraft models designed to glide or be self-propelled as heretofore proposed has been such as has failed to suggest the extreme simplification of construction made possible by the present improvements, whence the present invention opens up to children of a considerably younger age group than here tofore the educational fun to be had from space age model making.

An object of the present improvements is to reduce the complexities of structure involved of necessity in models of space age aircraft or missiles that are capable of traveling or gliding, so that a set of toy figurette building parts may be produced at the lowest possible cost and comprised of few and simple pieces capable of being assembled into quiescent figurettes by children of kindergarten age and upward.

A related object of the invention is to make the component parts of a smooth and hard surfaced molded material that will insure accuracy and uniformity of dimensions and enable the parts to go together interchangeably with a constant forcefulness of clinging fit light enough to yield to finger manipulation by very small children yet of sufficient firmness to establish permanence in relative positioning of the parts.

A related object is to produce component parts of the toy from molded or extruded plastic shapes some of which are hollow while configured internally and/ or externally in a manner to fit and remain together without visible means of joindure and to be separable for reassemblage in different relationships.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of some typical examples of toy parts that may be merchandised as a set embodying the present improvements, the description having reference to the appended drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 to 10, inclusive, show in perspective some of the figurettes that may be constructed from selected parts of a play set embodying the invention, FIG. 1 representing a conventional jet bomber.

FIG. 2 represents the well-known Tiger Fighter constructed from parts of the same set.

FIG. 3 represents a simple fighter plane.

FIG. 4 represents a winged rocket in upright position carrying at its top end a spiked ball simulating a satellite with its projecting antennas.

FIG. 5 represents a Regulus missile poised for flight on a standard suggestive of a launching frame.

FIG. 6 represents a super-interceptor in flight.

FIG. 7 is a Hawk missile poised at an incline for takeoff from its launching base.

3,126,667 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 FIG. 8 represents a Little John missile in flight.

FIG. 9 represents a double fuselage aircraft.

FIG. 10 represents a guided missile.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of one of the set of parts comprising a tubular body partially broken away to disclose its wall construction.

FIGS. 12 to 17, inclusive, are perspective views of various terminal body parts of more or less tapering shapes showing sections of their walls broken away to expose details of the construction.

FIG. 18 shows in enlarged cross section the manner in which a coupling rod can be frictionally lodged in a core hole bordered by any one of the wall constructions of FIGS. 11 to 17, 19 and 23.

FIG. 19 shows an assemblage of the terminal body part of FIG. 16 with one end portion of the coupling rod of FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 shows a pseudo jet engine having a removable mounting fin.

FIG. 21 shows the mounting fin of FIG. 20 detached.

FIG. 22 is an enlarged view taken in section on the plane 2222 in FIG. 20 showing also the engine supporting wing.

FIG. 23 is the mounting half portion of a hollow, satellite-representing ball with its spherical wall broken away.

FIG. 24 is the complementary half portion of the satelite ball of FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a base part with a portion of a standard lodged thereon whose use is shown in FIGS. 5 and 7.

FIG. 26 shows the outline shapes of various flat plate like parts representative of wings, rudders, stabilizers and the like which may be included in a set of play pieces for constructing the figurettes shown in FIGS. 1 to 10, inclusive, and many others not illustrated.

In the drawings each of the separable play parts that are used in making up the figurettes of FIGS. 1 to 10 and many other figurettes in unlimited variety is identified by a common reference numeral throughout the figures of the drawings. The numeral 11 denotes the tubular body of FIG. 11. Numerals 12 to 17, inclusive, designate respectively the variety of terminal bodies shown in FIGS. 12 to 17, inclusive. Part 18 is the coupling rod of FIG. 18. Part 19 is the pseudo jet engine of FIG. 20. Part 20 is the engine mounting fin of FIG. 21. Part 21 is the mountable half of a hollow sphere representing a satellite and is designed for slip fit assemblage with the complementary hollow half sphere 22. In FIG. 5 part 23 is a shallow base that supports a standard 24. This part 24 may also be used as the wings of an airplane as shownv in FIGS. 1 and 6, part 24 is shown separately in FIG. 26. Other plate-like parts numbered 24 to 29, inclusive, possess differing outline shapes that can be made use of where designated by their respective reference numerals in FIGS. 1 to 10.

The present improvements are particularly concerned with specific features of the cooperative shape and construction of certain parts that are best shown individually in FIGS. 11, 15, 17 and 18, and which will now be described in fuller detail.

The one-piece hollow body part 11 has a cylindrical external surface and its tubular wall which is of the same continuous material is circumferentially complete and undulated to form four internal longitudinal ridges 30 of equal circumferential spacing projecting radially inward from the cylindrical surface of the body and paralleling the axis of the tubular wall. In the hollow terminal bodies 15 and 17 of FIGS. 15 and 17, respec tively, the external surface of the body member has a cylindrical portion and also tapering portions 15' and 17' respectively. While terminal body 17 may be hollow have a thickness of about .062".

throughout, terminal body is shown to be closed at the tip end of its tapering portion. The terminal bodies 15 and 17 possess in common modified forms of internal ridges shown in FIGS. 15 and 17. Body 11 has four grooves 31 in the external surface of its tubular Wall sufficiently deep to extend into and occupy the internal ridges 30, respectively, of body 11 and whose width for proper fitting relation to the plate-like parts 24 to 2612,

inclusive, may be from .054" to .059.

The radially innermost tips or crests of the internal ridges in bodies 11 to 17 are wholly separated from one another by a common space and thus border and define with circumferential incompleteness a round core hole or socket 32. Such hole 32 extends throughout the length of body 11. Core hole 32 is receptive to a coupling rod 18 in the manner shown in FIG. 18 with a light press fit. Coupling rod 18 is provided with a keyway 33 that is of less depth than the diameter of the rod and that extends lengthwise of the rod.

Keyway 33 may have a maximum width of .070" with spaced apart projecting pressure spots34 on only one of its side faces whereby to reduce the width of the keyway at said pressure spots to a dimension of from .054" to .059". This produces a satisfactory clinging fit for any of the plate-like parts 24 to 29, inclusive, when any margin thereof is inserted in keyway 33 where said parts Coupling pin 18 is shown in such engagement with part 16 in FIG. 19, part 16 having no internal ridges.

The width of the open mouth of keyway 33 produces the equivalent of a flat that is closely abutted by the aforesaid tip end of only one of the ridges 30 at a time as shown in FIG. 18 but in a manner yieldably to restrict relative turning movement between body 11 and rod 18.

By the same token relative turning movement is yieldably restricted between body 11 and any other of the bodies 11 to 1'7, that have internal ridges such as 30, 38 or 44 and which may be coupled to body 11 by rod 18.

It is desirable that the detent action between ridge 30 and the open mouth of keyway 33 shall be such as can be sensed by the feeling of a spring seating effect when an internal body ridge meets the keyway 33 during relative turning of coupled together bodies. Thus it can be known by such sense of feeling when the grooves 31 in body 11 are in true lengthwise alignment with similar grooves in another body 11, or are aligned with similar grooves in any of the terminal body parts such as grooves 39. As further apparent from FIG. 18 the internal ridges 38 and 44 are equally capable of co-acting with the open mouth of keyway 33 with a similar detentive effect. The spring seating action is so light that it does not prevent unlimited relative turning of any two parts that are coupled together by rod 18.

The detentive functioning above explained will be accompanied by a satisfactorily firm yet yieldable press fit of rod 18 into the core hole 32, and into the core holes of the terminal body parts 12 to 17, inclusive, and into the socket 67 of half sphere 21 in FIG. 23, if the coupling rod is molded or extruded from high impact polystyrene to a rod diameter of between .247" and .260" while the diameter of core holes or sockets 32 into which the coupling rod fits is .245", this dimension being the diametrical distance between the tips or crests of diametrically opposite internal ridges 30, 38 or 44 when the tubular forming such ridges likewise comprises molded high terminal body 14 slots 45 extend completely through the body wall and take the place of grooves so that a onepiece stabilizer such as 32 can extend way through and project on both sides of body 14 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 9. Such slots may be of the same width as the grooves and arranged in two pairs of diametrically opposite coplanar slots. The slots 45 are angularly intermediate the ridges 44 and do not interfere with the latter.

The flat plate-like parts 24 to 29, inclusive, are die stamped preferably from sheet polyethylene .062" thick wherefore any of their margins can be removably lodged with a light press fit in any of the grooves 31, 39 or 71 and into any of keyways 33 or 48 or slots 45, for joinder with other parts whose use is hereinafter explained. The shapes of the plate-like parts are suitable in proportion and sizes to the sizes of body parts 11 to 17, inclusive,

for realistically representing such typical components of space craft as wings (parts 24, 25, 28 and 29) rudders (parts 26, 26a and 26b) stabilizers (part 32) supports (parts 27 and 33) and the like. FIG. 9 shows a part i such as 27 or 33 incorporated in a double fuselage plane while permitting the coupled together body parts to be pulled apart easily or turned relatively to one another.

In FIGS. 20 and 22, part 19 represents a jet engine having a longitudinally extending keyway 48 in its external face which in 'width and construction is like that of keyway 33 in the coupling rod 18. A fin-like member'2il in FIG. 21 die cut from the same sheet material as parts 24 to 29, seats removably in keyway 48.

' Keyway 48 may have the same width and construction as keyway 33 including the spaced apart pressure spots 51 on one side of the keyway.

Fin member 20'se'rves two purposes when assembled in different ways with other parts of the set of play pieces. Thus in FIG. 7 a plurality of fin members 20 are inse'r'ted edgewise into the grooves of one of the bodies 11 to simulate the stabilizers of a rocket, while in FIGS. 1,

2 and 10 this same fin member 20 is shown to serve as means of mounting the pseudo jet engine 19 on the edges of'th'e wings 24, 26b and 28 respectively of various pseudo aircraft. For this latter purpose fin 20 is provided with an elongate dead-ended notch 54 whose crosswise width is slightly larger than the thickness of wing parts such as 24, 28 or 29, except for two projecting pressure spots 55.

The full width of notch 54 like that of keyways 31 or 39 is 'at least .062, but the effective width of the notch is reduced to the dimension .049" to .053 for secure clinging'fit on the margin of the wings which have a and 24. The mounting half 21 of this sphere is molded of plastic'with a thin semispherical wall reinforced by internal ridges 59 which predetermined a proper-extent of circumferential deformity to accommodate press fit assemblage of sphere part 21 with the rabetted circumferential lip 61 of the wall of the other sphere part 22. The springiness of sphere half 22 for this purpose is likewise predetermined by internal stiffening ridges 62 corresponding to ridges '59. 'Notches 63 in part 21 register with notches 64 in part 22 to form holes through the wall of '-the sphere, when its halves are together, similar to the small end hole 65 in part 22. These holes are adapted to receive and hold in radiating position slender tapered spikes 66 which may be colored plastic toothpicks having a press fit in the holes to represent antennas of a satellite. The mounting half 21 of the sphere has molded integrally with its spherical wall a deep socket 67 of size to be receptive to the coupling rod 18 with a light frictional telescopic fit so that when the other end of the coupling rod is assembled with terminal body 16 or 17, as shown in FIG. 19, the satellite ball becomes removably mounted on the nose of the rocket as shown in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 25 a hollow base 23 is provided with a groove 71 whose depth occupies a ridge 72 that depends into the hollow of the base so that part 24, serving as a figurette standard, can be firmly lodged in groove 71 in the manner shown in FIG. 25 to give the figurette appearance shown in FIG. 5. Groove 71 in base 23 may receive others of the plate-like parts, as for instance the hypotenuse of the triangular parts 25 or 26a of FIG. 26 which produces the appearance shown in FIG. 7.

The successful fitting together action of toy parts embodying this invention is due in part to the resilient expansive give or springiness of the shell walls of the hollowbody members imparted thereto by their cross sectional shapes as herein shown. Cooperative with the springiness of the tubular walls is the cross sectional springiness imparted to coupling rod 18, and the pseudo jet engine 19 by their deep keyways 33 and 48 which permit a degree of contractive springiness to result in the desirable light press fit assemblage of the parts.

Stops may be added to the crests of the internal ridges located to limit the extent to which the coupling rod can be pushed into the tubular bodies and into the terminal bodies to achieve a predetermined amount of telescopic overlapping and many other modifications and departures from the specific shape and relationship of parts may be made, wherefore the appended claims are directed to and intended to cover all fair equivalents of the structures defined in the claims that come within the teaching of the disclosure hereof.

I claim:

1. In a set of model making sectional parts for knockdown assemblage in selective relationships to construct and reconstruct various quiescent figurettes simulating the overall appearance of different space vehicles, a sectional part of tubular nature comprising a one-piece hollow body of the same continuous material forming a circumferentially complete tubular wall undulated to form a series of circumferentially spaced inwardly projecting ridges and to form a corresponding series of ci-rcumferentially spaced grooves paralleling the axis of said tubular body and occupying said ridges respectively, said grooves opening outward of said wall and the radially innermost crests of said ridges being wholly separated from one another by a common space thereby providing a core socket receptive to other parts of said set.

2. In a set of model making sectional parts for the use described in claim 1, a tubular sectional part as defined in said claim, together with a flat plate-like sectional part of uniform allover thinness at least one of whose margins is of suitable thickness to fill and be removably lodged in one of said grooves with a light press fit, whereby said plate-like par-t projects outward radially and fixedly from said tubular sectional part without means for support extraneous to said groove thereby to resemble typical airfoils of conventional air vehicles.

3. In a set of model making sectional parts for the use described in claim 1, two tubular sectional parts like the said sectional part defined in said claim assembled end to end with at least one of the said grooves in one of said parts in longitudinal alignment with a like groove of equal width in the other of said parts, together with a flat platelike sectional part of uniform thinness all over at least one of whose margins is of suitable thickness to fill and be removably lodged in the said grooves of both of said tubular parts with a light press fit, whereby said platelike part aids in releasab'ly holding said tubular parts in said alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,915,835 Pajeau June 27, 1933 2,297,712 McCoy Oct. 6, 1942 2,410,874 Greenberg et al Nov. 12, 1946 2,414,716 Carson Jan. 21, 1947 2,545,586 Pollak Mar. 20, 1951 2,591,303 Schriner et al. Apr. 1, 1952 2,732,657 Krautkramer Jan. 31, 1956 2,739,414 Cleveland Mar. 27, 1956 2,836,008 Nichols May 27, 1958 2,858,640 Drobniewski Nov. 4, 1958 2,918,751 John-son Dec. 29, 1959 2,958,142 Kershaw et a1. Nov. 1, 1960 2,968,118 Paulson Jan. .17, 196 1 

1. IN A SET OF MODEL MAKING SECTIONAL PARTS FOR KNOCKDOWN ASSEMBLAGE IN SELECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS TO CONSTRUCT AND RECONSTRUCT VARIOUS QUIESCENT FIGURETTES SIMULATING THE OVERAL APPERANCE OF DIFFERENT SPACE VEHICLES, A SECTIONAL PART OF TUBULAR NATURE COMPRISING A ONE-PIECE HOLLOW BODY OF THE SAME CONTINUOUS MATERIAL FORMING A CIRCUMFERENTIALLY COMPLETE TUBULAR WALL UNDULATED TO FORM A SERIES OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED INWARDLY PROJECTING RIDGES AND TO FORM A CORRESPONDING SERIES OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED GROOVES PARALLELING THE AXIS OF SAID TUBULAR BODY AND OCCUPYING SAID RIDGES RESPECTIVELY, SAID GROOVES OPENING OUTWARD OF SAID WALL AND THE RADIALLY INNERMOST CRESTS OF SAID RIDGES BEING WHOLLY SEPERATED FROM ONE ANOTHER BY A COMMON SPACE THEREBY PROVIDING A CORE SOCKET RECEPTIVE TO OTHER PARTS OF SAID SET. 